Long May She Reign
by comeoncatie
Summary: Queen Mary of Scots will risk her life and her country to be with the man she loves, but will he do that same? And will the obstacles in their way become too much?
1. Chapter 1

Okay, it has been years, YEARS, since I've written any fics, so go easy on me. I'm completely obsessed with Reign, and with so few fanfics out there for it, I figured it was time to start my own. I'm also using this in my submission for NaNoWriMo this year (and I'm doing terribly so far, only ~600 words and we are already on day 5! Then again, I did start late). Words of encouragement are welcome! Enjoy!

...

Since Mary, Queen of Scotland, was a child, the English have wanted her country and her crown. She is sent to France to wed it's next King, to save herself and her people: a bond that should protect her. But there are forces that conspire, forces of darkness, forces of the heart.

Long may she reign...

...

She was so young, and already she was onto her second fiancé. Tomas was not nearly her first choice, but Mary had a duty to her country. Immediately after he is deemed legitimate, she would secure an alliance with Portugal and protect the country she loved, the country she serves.

Ever since Francis, her dear Francis, told Mary to wed Tomas, she knew that she had no choice. She did not hold the love she thought he felt for her. Francis loves his country. Francis loves his family. But Mary? He did not love Mary. Not in the way she hoped he might. She was merely a possession, a bridge to an alliance, a bridge to more power, a bridge to more power for France. Mary would now hesitate before trusting someone so fully again. She knew that she had to put the love she held for her country above the love she thought she had for the prince. Scotland needed help from someone, _anyone_, so that she could save her country from the British invasion.

And really, perhaps all she felt was lust. Perhaps it was just the knowledge that they were to be married, perhaps it was just the knowledge that they had been engaged since they were merely six years old. Perhaps what she thought she felt for the prince was actually nothing at all.

Mary had never once felt so helpless before. Sure, she has been threatened by the English her entire life, but this was different. Most times the things she does in her life are best for her country, and she knew that. But for whatever reason, the thought of patriotism did not comfort her now. She wanted love, and no matter how frequently people told her it was not possible with her status guarding the way, her heart refused to believe it to be true.

That was how Mary knew that it was not merely lust she felt for her prince. She simply had to find a way to get out of this arrangement she made. One way or another, she would get out of this engagement; she just needed someone's help to get what she truly wanted: a relationship and marriage with a man whom she was in love with. Mary already knew who that was, and whether he agreed or not, she knew Francis was wrong in telling her to marry Tomas.

...

As soon as the King of France heard of Mary's engagement to Tomas, the castle went into a frenzy. Mary was still Henry's guest, but now there was an edge to any interaction; she was no longer future family. Queen Catherine was thrilled, of course. The love of her life, her one and only son, was no longer in danger of Mary and his certain death that would be caused by their betrothal and later their marriage.

Aylee, Greer, Kenna, and Lola were understanding. The four friends of Queen Mary knew that she needed to put her country first. As much as they wanted her to be able to love and marry and be with whomever she wanted, they knew that it was not a possibility for a queen, especially one who had so much riding on her marriage to a country that had strength. As it had been said previously, she was marrying a country, not a man.

Out of courtesy, King Henry (upon the insistence of the downright giddy Queen Catherine) planned to throw a ball for the newly engaged couple. "It will be good for their coming out," Catherine claimed. "It will show good spirits, perhaps keep the alliance somewhat in tact." King Henry had no choice but to bitterly agree with her.

Even though Francis was the one to tell Mary to accept Tomas' proposal, he regretted the words as soon as they left his mouth. Where he once at least had a part of Mary's affection, he now had none of her at all.

"Father," he told Henry, "you can't allow this. We had an alliance, an engagement, and she's throwing it all away!"

"Really, son, is that how you feel about it?" King Henry was not in the mood to be reminded of this fact. "From what I understand, you are the one who told Mary to accept, encouraged it even! As a future king, risk will always be in the way, and you risked the French-Scottish alliance when you encouraged her marrying that man. In the future perhaps you will know better than to risk without properly thinking things through."

Francis was about to retaliate, but Henry merely raised his hand to dismiss his next in line. "I don't have time for this, Francis. Your mother," the King said spitefully, "is insisting I help her with the upcoming party. If you feel so strongly about it, find a way to fix this yourself."

Francis sulked away with disappointment. He knew he shouldn't have expected anything less from his father, but it was still disappointing to know that the King was not willing to do anything. How could he expect to get anywhere now?

That was when he got an idea. It was a deliciously-wonderful, yet awful idea. If anything, Francis would convince Mary that his initial words were wrong. If there was anything he could do to convince her that marrying Tomas was not the answer, it was finding dirt, any small smear or crumb, that would tarnish the Portuguese's name.

With that enlightening thought in mind, the future King of France (and hopefully Scotland) marched away to begin his search for Bash, perhaps the only person Francis trusted to help him with this task.


	2. Chapter 2

You guys are freaking incredible. It's only been a couple of days and I have already gotten a ton of feedback, so thank you for that! I'm obsessing over the new episode. If you want to talk about it, feel free to PM me here or on tumblr. And make sure you review! Enjoy!

...

Francis awoke with a start. He was drenched in a cold sweat and could not shake the dream he just had. Not only had he lost Mary, he lost Sebastian, he lost his mother, and he lost his country. The threatening demeanor of Tomas was beginning to get to him, and now it was even coming up in his dreams.

He was beginning to give up hope. It had already been a week and Francis and Bash were unlucky in finding any information on Tomas. Frustrated and tired, yet unable to sleep, Francis went to practice the one thing that kept him from thinking too hard.

Though Francis hadn't been a bladesmith for long, he enjoyed knowing he was able to control the metal to suit his needs. He felt himself become lost in his art, causing him to miss the sun breaking the darkness of the early morning. It wasn't until the door opened that he broke out of his trance.

"Still wallowing?"

Bash was carrying a plate of food which immediately made Francis' mouth water. "I'm not wallowing," Francis claimed, snatching a roll off of the plate, "I'm thinking. We can't let her go through with it."

"I know, but what more can we do? We've asked around to everyone. We've done everything short of asking the King of Portugal himself." Bash was tired of searching for something that wasn't there. As much as he agreed with Francis, he wasn't so sure that they would ever find a way to stop the marriage.

"What if we stop asking, only to have something happen to Mary? You of all people know we can not let that happen."

"Can't let what happen?" Mary asked as she exited the stairwell leading to Francis' hideaway.

Francis stood gaping for a moment, caught off guard by the beautiful young woman standing in front of him. "Oh-um-we are just discussing the upcoming tournament," he lied.

Mary looked at Sebastian. "May have a moment with your brother?"

"Of course, m'lady," Bash shot Francis a look, "by all means, take your time."

Once Mary and Francis were alone, she looked across the room at him with inquisitive eyes. "I know what you're up to," she said, taking such slow, small steps forward that Francis didn't even notice.

"Oh?" Francis asked, with what he hoped was a surprised expression, rather than worried. "What might I be up to?"

"You're trying to take back your order. You're trying to disallow my engagement to Tomas."

Before he knew it, Mary was standing in front of him with her hand on his chest. Immediately, images of the kiss they shared not a fortnight prior began to race through his mind. "You know this isn't what I want, Francis. If there was anything we could do differently, I would. But you must stop making such a scene. I know you are asking questions about Tomas, and I know you asked the king to not allow our engagement to be broken." Mary looked exasperated, broken even.

Francis couldn't take her sad expression anymore. "I've realized something though, Mary," he said, lifting her chin so he could see her eyes, "I want _you_. As my friend, as my queen, as my everything."

"Things don't always work that way for kings and queens, Francis," Mary said sadly.

"I don't care." And with that Francis kissed Mary.

It wasn't the same as their first kiss. Their first kiss had been one of sadness and goodbyes. Francis was letting Mary go, or so they thought. This was more than that. There was hunger in this kiss. Passion. They were both fighting for control, for each other, and neither was going to let the other win without a fight.

It wasn't until there was a knock at the door that the young couple jumped apart. Bash stuck his head in, "Sorry to interrupt, but someone's coming."

Mary and Francis gave one more glance at each other before allowing Bash into a much more lighthearted conversation. It was only moments before Tomas walked in.

"Mary, there you are. What are you doing up here?" Tomas looked around at all of Francis' creations with a look of disgust . . . and a look of fear? Francis made sure to make note of that.

Francis intervened before Mary got a chance. "Is she not allowed to be her own person, to go where she pleases, now that she's engaged to you?" he asked the new Portuguese Prince, his cheeks still slightly pink from his experience with Mary not five minutes prior.

Mary shot Francis a look or worry; she didn't want him to get into trouble with Tomas. "Let's get some fresh air, my lord," Mary said to Tomas. As she began to walk toward the door, she bid both Sebastian and Francis good-day, but as she passed Francis, she snuck a note into his hand. With that, she and Tomas left Bash and Francis alone in the room.

Bash quickly turned to Francis. "I have news."

Francis looked up with interest from the folded up note he was holding. "What do you mean? And why didn't you tell me sooner?" Anything that would help him win Mary back was of utmost importance to him.

"There are new rumors in court that Tomas' first wife's death was not an accident. And with what we already know regarding his cruelty to his servants, I wouldn't put it past him to have done something more malicious." Bash was looking worried. It was obvious that both he and Francis were thinking the same thing: if Tomas was capable of doing something so ruthless to the woman he claims to have loved, what would he do to Mary? "We need to get her away from him. There must be someone who can help."

Francis was unsure of who they could turn to. "I don't know, but we are going to find out." With that, Francis opened the note from Mary:

_My Dear Francis,_

_The lake is always so beautiful at sunset._

_Meet me there tonight. We will figure this mess out together._

_Yours,_

_Mary_

Immediately, Francis felt more confident that they would find a way to be together, one way or another. They would make sure of it.


	3. Chapter 3

Okay, so again, thank you, thank you, thank you to everyone who has been commenting and following. I think it's been made pretty clear so far that I'll be taking snippets from the show, but mine will also have some differences. For example, I'll probably keep Tomas around a bit longer (ick, I know). Feel free to PM me about theories, recent episodes, etc.! And as always, make sure to review!

...

Mary walked along the outskirts of the castle with her soon to be husband. She was becoming impatient with him; it was getting closer to sunset and she couldn't miss her meeting with Francis.

"I find it very interesting, Mary," Tomas stated.

The young queen did not understand what he meant. "What is interesting, my lord?"

"The fact that you seem to think it is acceptable to spend so much time with your ex-fiancé, even though you and I are now engaged." It was clear that Tomas was unhappy with her.

"Francis has always been my friend. He always will be. We've known each other since we were children." Mary was upset. She had never been one to cave under pressure, and she certainly wouldn't do so for Tomas. Especially over something such as this.

Tomas stopped so quickly that Mary was jerked to a halt; her arm had been tucked within his while they were walking. Looking straight ahead with a morbidly serious expression, Tomas stated the one thing that Mary was afraid he would expect of her. "You must realize something, _dear. _You and I are now engaged. You are now _my_ property. Once you realize that, everything will be much easier for you. Fail to comply, we will no longer be so happy in this engagement."

Mary held back the shouts of anger she wanted to expel. She held back the tears and the disgust she felt to the man with whom she was now betrothed. The Queen stood still as a statue, and when Tomas realized she would say nothing on the matter, he looked at her once with a look of accomplishment in his eye before leaving her alone and working his way back into the castle.

Once she knew Tomas was long gone and she was alone, Mary allowed herself to express her feelings. As tears slipped down her face, she slowly made her way toward the side of the lake which was hidden from the castle. It was finally time to meet Francis, and perhaps he would be able to help her to feel better.

As she rounded the bend that would lead to salvation, Mary took a moment to clean herself up, wiping any stray tears from her eyes. She did not want Francis to see her looking to weak, so fragile.

She only needed to take a few more steps before she saw the one man who was capable of putting a smile on her face. Francis had taken the time to lay out a blanket for them. She noticed he had maneuvered it in a location that was unseen by anyone looking out a window of the castle, completely covered by trees and tall grass. When Francis heard her walking up, he immediately stood. If Mary didn't know any better, she would assume he was nervous.

When Mary was only five feet from the man she wanted to be with, she stopped. Without any words being said, they looked into one another's eyes. Mary became lost in the blue eyes of her prince. She didn't know if it was seconds or hours before he finally stepped forward and embraced her.

Without so much as a word, Francis kissed Mary, again and again and again. Neither of them could get enough and neither had ever felt this amount of passion before. Mary felt his hands everywhere, and it seemed all too soon that they broke apart.

Out of breath, Mary smiled a sweet, "Hello."

With a victorious smile, Francis kissed her once, twice, three times before they sat down on their blanket. Even though it had only been hours, it felt like it had been days since they had seen each other. They both had so much to share, so much to talk about.

Mary laid her head back, relaxing on the cotton with a smile she couldn't hide. Francis looked at her inquisitively. "What's on your mind?" he asked.

"Nothing. I'm just happy. Today was horrendous. Can you believe Tomas told me he actually expects to be able to command me?" Francis didn't look surprised which took Mary aback. "You expected this..."

"I can't say I'm caught off guard, no. I had a feeling that he would do something like this. He wants power, that's all." It was clear to Mary that Francis had something on his mind.

"What's wrong?"

Francis turned to her; he had obviously been wanting to spill every word. "Bash found something this morning, after he left us. He had gone down to the library and over heard two of the ladies in court discussing the regality of Tomas. But apparently, they feel there is something to fear in him as well. Bash heard them claim that in Portugal, there are serious rumors that his first wife did not just die of illness. It is widely believed that she was murdered by the new prince himself."

Mary didn't know what to say, but it seemed Francis had no problems filling the silence. "I can't let you marry him, Mary. You are mine and I am yours. It's been that way for as long as we can remember."

"I'm afraid, Francis. How can we fix this?"

"I don't know yet. But we will. I know we will." With that, Francis sank from his seated position and laid down next to Mary. "I will do whatever it takes."

Once again, they embraced, kissing each other so passionately, so intensely, that they never wanted to part. Mary was ready to be his completely, but she knew that she could not take things too far. If things didn't work out with destroying the engagement, she couldn't risk anyone questioning her virtue. Even if it was for the man she loved.

It was then that Mary knew she had to tell Francis, even if it would be considered inappropriate, or rushed, or unacceptable. But as it turned out, Mary needn't tell him first.

"I love you, Mary," Francis whispered.

Mary immediately smiled, "And I love you, my Francis."

With that, they spent the rest of their evening in each other's arms, star-gazing and stealing kisses as often as possible.


End file.
